Codonics Inc.

Codonics SLS 500i Safe Label System

Middleburg Heights-based Codonics Inc. wants to take the human error out of drug administration in the operating room.

The company's SLS 500i Safe Label System prints a data-rich bar code to label intravenous medication while a syringe is being prepared.

The goal is to help institutions adhere to medication labeling standards. The company said in its nomination form that drug administration errors occur in one in 140 cases, with many more unreported, according to data from the Anesthesia Patient Safety Foundation.

The labels the system prints contain information to identify individual drugs and their concentration and expiration. It asks a user — a hospital nurse, for example — for confirmation of the drug before it prints a label, providing a sort of double-check; it then audibly repeats the type of drug in a syringe, a way of triple-checking for the user.

Currently, several prototypes of the system are in use at Massachusetts General Hospital, a partnership Codonics said has been vital to its development. Codonics said Massachusetts General played an integral role in connecting the company with scores of end users, with whom Codonics has worked to ensure their needs were met.

Additionally, the American Society of Anesthesiologists in 2008 honored Codonics and its labeling system with the Innovation and Technology Award.